Young Republican who worked for Ryan, Gingrich arrested over alleged nude photo scheme

Alex Pappas

Alex Pappas is a Washington D.C.-based political reporter for The Daily Caller. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and the Mobile Press-Register. Pappas is a graduate of The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., where he was editor-in-chief of The Sewanee Purple. While in college, he did internships at NBC's Meet the Press and the White House. He grew up in Mobile, Ala., where he graduated from St. Paul's Episcopal School. He and his wife live on Capitol Hill.

A young Republican who worked during the 2012 campaign for former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has been charged with federal stalking charges after allegedly threatening to expose nude photos of women.

Adam Savader, 21, was arrested after women complained to law enforcement that he told them he would distribute nude photos he found of them to friends and family unless they provided more naked photos, according to a news release by the FBI.

Sources confirm to The Daily Caller that Savader is the former GOP campaign aide. On his Twitter profile, Savader describes himself as “American Patriot. Reagan Republican. Formerly @PRyan’s sole intern on @MittRomney’s campaign and a @newtgingrich campaign staffer.”

On Savader’s Facebook page — viewed by TheDC — he displays a photo of himself with Ryan and another with Gingrich and his wife Callista, as well as photos with other well-known Republicans and Conservatives.

That Facebook page notes his hometown as Great Neck, New York — the same place the FBI says the defendant is from.

He was charged by criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan with Internet extortion and cyber stalking.

Savader sent threatening anonymous text messages using Google Voice numbers to 15 women from May 2012 through Feb. 2013, according to the FBI. That means he would’ve sent these messages during the presidential campaign.

He sent the women links to a photo-sharing website where nude pictures of them had been posted, the FBI said.

“The case was brought to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by detectives from the Ann Arbor Police Department, who received a complaint from a victim stating that she had received threatening messages from a person who had illegally obtained nude photographs of her from her e-mail account,” the FBI said. “Detectives with the Ann Arbor P.D. partnered with FBI agents to investigate the case and together identified 15 victims in Detroit; Washington, D.C.; and Long Island, New York.”

If convicted, Savader could face up to five years in prison. He is in federal custody in New York and will be sent to Michigan, the release stated.